JO bus service seeks funding for expanding hours and routes
Bus riders on the JO will have a more flexible schedule and more places to go soon if a major expansion plan is approved by the county commission.
The Johnson County Transportation Council has asked the commission to consider adding $2.15 million to its $13 million budget in 2016 to add more frequent stops, more territory and limited evening hours to some routes, while increasing the range and lessening restrictions on its Special Edition service for those disabled or 65 or older.
The expansion plan presented to commissioners last week is an attempt to set up a more flexible public transportation grid that will eventually make the county part of a regional system, said Alice Amrein, transit administrator.
The new routes and scheduling would create more east-west connections to employers and colleges and would allow Special Edition customers more options when using the bus or taxi service.
The ongoing support for the changes could necessitate a property tax increase, however. Amrein said the extra amount requested would come to about 0.25 mills. A mill is one dollar of property taxes per $1,000 of taxable value. A fare increase was not part of the presentation.
Development along the Metcalf Avenue and 75th Street corridors was one reason the Transportation Council gave for endorsing the plan. But the council also noted that public transportation could help the commission meet one of its newly adopted strategic goals: promoting self-sufficiency for the county’s vulnerable populations.
The expansion plan comes in two parts. The first is $1.22 million for increased connections along key routes. The north-south 667 bus along Nall Avenue from the Mission Transit Center would get an extension carrying riders along 95th Street to Renner Boulevard in Lenexa, where new office development is going up. That line runs at peak morning and afternoon commuting times.
Some new stops would be added to the 556 route along Metcalf as well. One would extend westward to connect Rosana Square shops with Johnson County Community College and another would add a loop eastward to the Prairiefire and Corbin Park shopping areas. The connection to JCCC would make it possible to take one bus from that school to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A trip to the University of Kansas Edwards Campus could be made by connecting at JCCC.
More frequent stops and longer hours also were included on some routes. The Metcalf route and the 575 along 75th Street and Quivira Road could have a longer day, with service ending at 9:30 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. In addition, buses could stop more often on the 75th and Quivira route. Currently buses stop every hour during peak morning and afternoon weekday commuting time and every two hours mid-day. The expansion would change that to every half hour during the peak times and every hour at mid-day, same as the Metcalf route.
The 175 bus, a Kansas City route that passes Ward Parkway Center and travels down Metcalf south of 95th Street, could also get expanded morning hours. That bus, which runs only at peak commutes in the county, stops its service in Johnson County at 9:30 a.m. Details are still being worked out, but the expansion plan could add as much as an hour more to that.
The other part of the plan would increase the budget for Special Edition buses or taxi service by $930,000. The first component of that plan would remove restrictions for travel to specified zones outside the county.
Trips on Special Edition are scheduled in advance for customers who are 65 or older, have a disability or meet low-income guidelines. Users pay either a reduced or regular fare.
Currently, trips outside the county are only allowed for medical purposes. The expansion would remove that restriction. Making that change would add about 10,250 trips per year and would cost $455,000.
The other component is for a new program for vouchers for taxi service. In it, the county would sell vouchers good for 15 miles one way. If the trip is longer, the rider would be responsible for the remaining fare. The vouchers would be sold to Special Edition users, with a portion set aside for county residents living outside the current special edition service area. There would be no restriction on the purpose of the trip.
That program would add about 12,800 trips and cost $475,000.
If the expansion is adopted it would begin to change the character of the JO, Amrein said. The county’s transit service has for years been mainly an express service bringing commuters north and south. Transportation officials want to change that, making the service more of an option for students, shoppers and people who work places other than downtown Kansas City.
The transportation council has already made a significant step down that road with the planned addition of several blocks to the 107 route from Kansas City, Kan. to Mission, she said. That route also connects Johnson County residents with the KU Medical Center.
That addition is included in the regular budget and not part of the additional funds request, Amrein said.
“It’s a really big deal,” Amrein said. “It begins to lay the groundwork for a regional transit system.”
County officials have expressed an interest in meeting the needs of an aging population with more low-income residents. But Amrein said the plan is at least as much about the needs of younger residents.
“When I say a changing demographic I’m not just talking about baby boomers aging. I’m talking about millennials who don’t want to have to buy a car and drive to work. If we’re going to keep that capital in the community we have to make it more attractive to them.”
The county’s transit service has undergone changes since the onset of the recession. Services were reduced in 2012 and officials have made changes in ensuing years to increase efficiency. Last year, the county transit service entered a joint management agreement with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority for additional savings.
Ridership, which had been increasing, is down about 6 or 7 percent this year, Amrein said, mostly due to raised fares on the K-10 route to Lawrence, decreased gas prices and highway construction along that route that has hurt the on-time rates.
The commission will consider the expansion as members prepare their 2016 budget in the next few weeks.
This story was originally published June 9, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "JO bus service seeks funding for expanding hours and routes."